White Star Angel
by Ann-Hetherington87
Summary: Meet the woman who linked White Star Line and Harland and Wolff. The only female Officer to serve aboard Titanic.
1. White Star Angel

Disclaimer: The only characters that I own are Anna Morris and her parents. Any other characters in this chapter are not my own. This story is purley a work of fiction, yet is based to a large extent based upon real events. No offence is intended.

Please read and review. Hope you enjoy!

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William McMaster Murdoch stood with his back to White Star Line's Liverpool Office, taking a moment to sort through his whirling thoughts. He was a tall and solidly built Scots man with a handsome face and a cheerful and wily disposition. He had recently been First Officer aboard White Star Line's _Olympic_, a behemoth of a ship, but had been given the news just a few days ago that he was to be Chief Officer aboard her larger and far grander Sister ship, the newly built _Titanic. _The thought of this was what was occupying his sharp mind, and he wondered who he would be serving with for the foreseeable future. He knew of one appointment, Senior Officer's Assistant, which brought a smile to his face, but who the rest of the crew would be was a mystery to him.

As if in answer to his thoughts, a hand dropped onto each of his shoulders, making him jump, startled. Two men, laughing at his skittishness, appeared in front of him. He rolled his eyes at them and grinned, greeting his old friends with a firm handshake each.

"Good to see you Lights, Davy, to what do I owe the displeasure of your company?"

Charles Herbert "Lights" Lightoller, still grinning was quick to answer "Just getting our tickets to Belfast. You are looking at the First and Second Officers of White Star Line's newest monster." Pride and excitement were evident in his rich, deep voice and his bright blue eyes sparkled with their usual warmth and mischief. He was a tall and handsome man with broad shoulders and a slim yet strong build.

David "Davy" Blair, a tall man with a wiry build and like Lights, had a mischievous disposition, tempered by professionalism piped up "What are you doing here Will? I thought you were First on _Olympic_."

Will gave his friends a knowing smirk and answered Davy's question. "Looks like you two troublemakers had best get used to calling me Chief!"

"Well I'll be damned" chuckled Lights "looks like we three'll be causing mayhem together for the foreseeable future. Should be great fun."

"God help the junior Officers though." laughed Murdoch. Suddenly he felt something hit the back of his head, and a feminine voice piped up from behind the three men "Don't think for one moment that you three miscreants will be torturing us Junior Officers, not while I'm around."

Into view came a short, slight and beautiful young woman, who was easily dwarfed by the men she addressed, but her vibrant personality more than made up for her small stature.

Lightoller immediately spun around and pulled the young woman into his arms and exclaimed "Anna, it's been far too long young lady!" Anna happily returned the embrace and laughingly replied "It's good to see you too Lights, I've missed you!"

He loosened his grip on her and held her at arm's length, and just looked at her. Her hair was the same shining and vibrant crimson that he remembered; her green eyes were just as bright and full of life as they had always been.

They grinned at each other for a moment, before Davy pulled her to him and swept her off her feet. Giggling at her friends antics, Anna threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek before saying "It's nice to see you too Davy, although you're looking a bit grey!" He set her on her feet again and frowned, "Do I really?" Anna just grinned impishly at him and turned to look at Will who smiled at her then held open his arms and she gratefully accepted the hug.

"Hello squirt" he mumbled into her hair, before releasing her. Lightoller and Blair regarded her for a moment before Lights broke the silence,

"Let me guess, you're on _Titanic_ as well?"

"Of course" came her reply "and my job there is to keep you three troublemakers in line."

"And she means it" groaned Will. "She was Senior Officers Assistant on _Olympic_ as well, and she never let us get away with anything."

The young redhead rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. "You know you love me really Will, you all do, so don't bother groaning about the fact we're serving together again because you know it doesn't fool me for a moment."

At 26, Anna Morris was the youngest of the four, and at that the only female Officer serving with White Star Line. Not only that, she was connected to the company that built, White Star Line's ships, Harland and Wolff. Her Great Uncle, Lord Pirre, was Chairman of the company, and her mother's younger brother, Thomas Andrews was both Managing Director and Master Shipbuilder for the firm.

Anna had run away to sea 12 years ago, after her mother had promised her hand in marriage to a wealthy businessman three times her age and in Anna's opinion was even less pleasant company than a shark with toothache.

One night after she had told him exactly what she thought him, he had hit and called her his "little whore". Later that night she cut her hair short, borrowed some boys clothes and had left, with no intention of returning, at least until she was 21, and of age.

She had run to the White Star Line docks in Liverpool, and joined the crew of the Medic, as an apprentice, under the name "Andrew" Morris. It was then that she first met Murdoch and Lightoller who were Second and Fourth Officers of the ship.

Within 8 months, the two men discovered that "Andrew" was in fact Anna, after she had fallen down a flight of stairs during a violent storm and had broken her ankle and dislocated her shoulder. Instead of being angry with her, they went out of their way to help her, understanding why she couldn't go home. Between the two of them, over the next 4 years, they helped her to complete her apprenticeship. At some point during those four years, they introduced her to Davy Blair, and from then, the four were firm friends. Anna had helped to cover for Lights when he met his wife, Sylvia, on the way to Sydney, one voyage, as he wooed her, and was a witness at their wedding.

Their bond was unbreakable.


	2. The handsome stranger

Chapter 2

6 hours later saw the four of them disembark from the Liverpool to Belfast ship in a very cheerful mood with their luggage for the next week.

"I hear these _Olympic_ class ships are huge." said Lights.

Anna laughed "Yep, you lot are going to have great fun trying to memorise the layout."

Will smirked down at her mischievously, "They won't be the ones having fun Anna, it'll be us watching them get lost all the time."

"You two are evil!" moaned Davy "You won't let us get lost will you?"

"Depends" said Anna all innocence.

"On what" he replied.

"On how nice you are to us." Said Will with a grin.

Lights beside him snorted "So much for twelve years of friendship, you two, you especially Anna, after all I've done for you."

Anna giggled and said, "Well you're both about to get your chance to find your way around her because there she is" and pointed to the largest ship any of the four had ever seen. Her paintwork gleamed in the March sunlight, her four huge funnels standing tall and proud. Anna and Will grinned at each other, both already used to the sheer size of the _Olympic_ class of ships. Lights and Davy on the other hand had stopped dead with their jaws hanging open. Neither of them had seen the _Olympic_ and so were unprepared for the sight of their new berth.

"She's huge!" exclaimed Davy, flabbergasted.

"She's a beauty!" breathed Lights in awe.

Anna looked around and saw four men stood about four hundred metres in front of them who also seemed to be gazing at the enormous ship in wonder. She tilted her head to one side thoughtfully for a moment then broke out in a mischievous grin. "Looks like the rest of my fellow Junior Officers have arrived already. Come on follow me, and stay quiet will you." The others looked at her quizzically then cottoned on to what she was up to and followed her quietly. The four men were so lost in studying _Titanic_ that they didn't notice her come up behind them. One of them was unfamiliar to her, but that didn't matter, they would all be friends soon enough. "BOO!" All four men jumped, startled and almost as one turned and saw her standing there with a grin on her face. The eldest of the four broke out into a wide smile and shook his head in fond exasperation. "One of these days young lady, you're going to do that to the wrong person! Come here." and promptly pulled her into a tight hug. No sooner had he let her go then the youngest of the four pulled her into a hug himself telling her that she was "a bad influence" on him and was "bound to get him into trouble one day" but "nonetheless he loved her dearly and wouldn't be without her if he could help it."

Just as the third man was about to hug her, Lights, Davy and Will appeared behind her. "Are you causing trouble again Anna?" asked Davy with a grin.

"Me? Never! I sir, am the epitome of ladylike decorum and naval discipline!" The man who had been about to hug her laughed and said in a strong welsh accent "That'll be the day Ann, for as long as I've known you you've been about as unladylike as it's possible to be, and you're proud of it!" He pulled her into a tight one armed hug and offered his hand to Will, Lights and Davy each in turn and introduced himself as Harold Lowe, that he was pleased to meet them and that they should call him Harry. Lowe was tall, slim and dark haired, with boyishly handsome features and eyes so dark, they were almost black.

Shorter than any of his companions, Herbert Pitman, the first of the men to greet Anna laughed his agreement "The lads got you there lass, you can't really dispute him can you."

Lights groaned "Don't say that Bert, you know what she's like, tell her she can't do something and she'll do it anyway. Not only that, she's the most argumentative woman I've ever met, she's worse than Sylvia."

The last of the four men, a tall and dark haired young man, with handsome features and a kind and gentle smile spoke up at this point jokingly "Don't tell me that you're living up to the old wives tales about sailors having a girl in every port Lights!"

Anna snorted, "He wishes, he can barely handle Sylvia, as it is, he couldn't handle another woman as well! Anna Morris, nice to meet you."

He gently to her hand in his, brought it to his lips and kissed it, "Joseph Boxhall, but please, call me Joe. You joining us on Titanic miss?"

"Yes, I'll be a Junior Officer, Senior Officers Assistant in fact. How about you?"

"Fourth Officer. So you're the infamous female Officer."

Anna's eyes narrowed dangerously and the other Officers backed away in apprehension. They were all well aware of her temper; her red hair wasn't the only fiery thing about her. She'd given them all a tongue lashing at some point or other. "Yes I am. Working with me won't be a problem will it?"

Joe smiled warmly at her and replied "Not at all miss. In fact, I've been wanting to work with you since Lights first mentioned you to me. If even half as what he's told me about you is true, then I think we'll get along rather well."

The others breathed a silent sigh of relief at this, and Anna smiled warmly, mollified. "Well, a person can never have too many friends, so I look forward to getting to know you better. What do you think of our new berth?"

"She's a beauty." But not as beautiful as you, he thought. In truth, he was entranced by her. She was small, but her size did nothing to hinder her clearly strong and fierce personality and it was this that fascinated him.

"Would you care for a tour? It would take a while but I've got the time if you have." Secretly, Anna was hoping he would say yes. He was incredibly handsome and she wasn't kidding about wanting to get to know him better.

"If you're sure then yes please." He held out his arm which she took with a smile and led him aboard.

All the while this was going on between the two; the other six were watching them with interest, and not a little amazement. Anna could seem rather unapproachable due to her beauty, yet this young man seemed to be unaffected. On the other hand, none of them could remember seeing this side of her, was it just them or was she flirting Boxhall. Anna didn't flirt, did she?

Well, thought Lights, this is going to be interesting.


End file.
